Congress alleges BJP vendetta after Kejriwal, Sisodia cleared in excise case

The Congress on Friday launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party after a Delhi court discharged former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the alleged excise policy corruption case.

The Rouse Avenue Court refused to frame charges against Kejriwal, Sisodia and other accused in connection with the now-withdrawn 2021–22 liquor policy. Allowing their discharge applications, the court held that the investigation had not produced sufficient evidence to proceed and that no criminal conspiracy or other offence was made out.

Reacting to the order, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged that the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party share a tacit political understanding and act in ways that suit their mutual interests.

In a post on X, Khera claimed that cases against the BJP’s “convenient allies” in the AAP would quietly fade ahead of elections in states such as Gujarat and Punjab. He described what he termed a pattern of using investigative agencies as political tools, accusing the ruling party of practising “vendetta as governance”.

Khera also alleged that the BJP adapts its political stance opportunistically to marginalise the Congress, reiterating the party’s long-standing charge that the BJP’s broader objective is to eliminate it from the national political landscape.

He further claimed that as elections approach in various states, cases involving Congress leaders tend to gather pace. Referring to former Union minister P. Chidambaram, Khera said he had once again been drawn into controversy as Tamil Nadu moves closer to Assembly polls.

Senior Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said that if legal proceedings are allowed to run their full course, the facts would eventually come to light. He also alleged that the political rivalry between the BJP and the AAP has, at times, worked to their mutual advantage, particularly in Delhi.

The BJP and the AAP have not immediately responded to the Congress’s latest remarks.

With IANS input